What slump?

Annika Sorenstam has gone from the slam to the slump.

She was on the fast track to the Grand Slam last year after winning the first two majors by a combined 11 shots, leading over the final 54 holes in each of them. Her victims were a 45-year-old easing into retirement (Rosie Jones) and a 15-year-old who still had two years left in high school (Michelle Wie).

The Swede looked unstoppable until running into her toughest opponent: The U.S. Women's Open.

One year later, the showcase event in women's golf stands in the way of a different goal for Sorenstam, who is trying to diffuse talk about her being in a slump.

The U.S. Women's Open begins Thursday at Newport Country Club in Rhode Island, a founding member of the USGA that held the first two majors in this country -- the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open, one day apart in 1895 -- and did not host another big event until Tiger Woods won his second U.S. Amateur in 1995.

Sorenstam won her 2006 debut on the LPGA Tour at a 54-hole event in Mexico, but that remains her only victory this year. She is No. 6 on the money list, but everyone is used to seeing her name at the top. And while Sorenstam has finished in the top 10 at both majors, she was never seriously a factor in either.

Struggling for consistency

She is not hitting as many fairways. She is not making enough putts. She can't seem to put three or four good rounds together.

She comes into the U.S. Women's Open having taken two weeks off to clear her mind. She is still atop the women's world ranking by a large margin, and no one doubts her skill.

But history is not on her side at this championship -- not any more.

Ten years ago, Sorenstam was so dominant in the U.S. Women's Open that she missed only five fairways all week at Pine Needles and won by six shots, setting a tournament record at 272. It was her second straight Open title.

Now, that's about the only major she can't seem to win.

Going for the third leg of the Grand Slam last year at Cherry Hills, she let nerves get the best of her in the first round, then fell apart on the weekend with a four-putt double bogey on Saturday and a 77 on Sunday.

She needed a birdie on the par-5 18th hole to win at Pumpkin Ridge in 2003 and had only a 4-wood left to the green. But she hit it behind a portable toilet, hit wedge into the bunker and made bogey to finish one shot out of the playoff. The year before, at Prairie Dunes, she led by two shots going into the final round and lost to Juli Inkster.

"It's really the No. 1 major ... and the U.S. Open always means a lot to me," Sorenstam said. "I haven't won it in a while, and I've had the chance a few times. I've been very, very close, so I'm looking forward to it. Like I said, I'm just wanting my game to turn around, and it will be a lot more fun."